Thumbs up, thumbs down
Thumbs up to positive train control technology being installed on Connecticut trains in time to meet the end-of-year deadline. Unfortunately, MetroNorth earned countless thumbs down in the past for gliding past previous deadlines to introduce PTC, which enhances communication between rail lines and can stop speeding trains. It was required through the Rail Safety Improvement Act passed by Congress 12 years ago. Slowing down trains should not have taken this long, but it’s reassuring to know PTC is now in place.
Thumbs down to the observation from neurologists that COVID-19 survivors have been suffering from challenges in memory and concentration. In extreme cases, chemicals formed by the body to combat the coronavirus are causing bleeding in the brain, and sometimes strokes. Lesser symptoms include headaches and “brain fog.” It’s a grim reminder that in the most personal of ways, this crisis will manifest itself for many years to come. It also means that regardless of the success rate of the vaccine, health professionals face the overwhelming task of trying to heal symptoms of the aftermath.
Thumbs down to a dip in enrollment numbers in schools creating more obstacles for educators in planning for the future. Education officials attribute a preliminary projection of a 3-percent dip in enrollment figures in Connecticut public schools to the pandemic, as parents are opting to home school their children or send them to private schools. Lower enrollments will create a domino effect of reduced funding right when it is needed most. For the near future, officials handling funding need to create ways to essentially grade on a curve.
Thumbs up to a $35 million grant program the state is offering small struggling businesses to help them stay afloat until the new federal stimulus package arrives. Connecticut’s bridge grants will be from $10,000 to $30,000 by the new year for an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 businesses, with restaurants and bars among the hardest hit economically by the pandemic. Earlier, the state had provided $50 million in grants to small businesses affected by the pandemic. The $900 billion federal stimulus package, approved by Congress last week and signed by President Donald Trump on Sunday, delivers an estimated $325 billion for small businesses, including loans through the Paycheck Protection Program.
Thumbs up to Weir Farm and its new designation as a national park, the only one in Connecticut. Bills to upgrade the park, which straddles Ridgefield and Wilton, from a national historic site to a park passed both chambers of Congress and awaits the president’s signature. The farm became the home of artist Julian Alden Weir in 1882 and now offers more than 250 historic painting sites, 15 buildings and a vast collection of American art as well as gardens, trails and orchards. The property has inspired generations of artists and the elevated designation is expected to attract more visitors. As U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, who introduced the bill in the House, said, “Walking through Weir Farm in any season is a quintessentially Connecticut experience.”